Brookhill Flour Mill

[mcmahongg]

Hi

These are the GPS coordinates of the bridge over the river at Brookhill:
[53.7033698,-9.0078916] or [53.7033698N, 9.0078916W]

From Google Maps (or Google Earth) Streetview there's a modern concrete parapet with railings on the right hand side of the road (as you travel south from Claremorris town). Just past the bridge on the same side is the entrance to Brookhill House (which I think is now open to visitors in Summer?). The mill area is on the other side of the main road.

From Streetview, there's now a lot of vegetation in the river on the Brookhill House side. This was formerly a wide open river just above the very attractive waterfall that's just beside the bridge. I spent many days as a kid messing in that river with rafts etc - it's a wonder I survived!

On the opposite side of the bridge there was (and probably still is) the remains of a mill-race and stonework that was probably the seating for the mill-wheel. A tunnel leading to this mill-race passed under the roadway to the Brookhill House side - originally diverting water from the upper river into the mill. I remember making my way (probably about 1970) inside that tunnel - it was blocked off after maybe 50 feet or so.

Brings back happy memories!

best regards

Gerry

[mcmahongg]

This area is in the RC parish of Crossboyne; their website:
http://crossboyneparish.ie/
Crossboyne village is about two miles southeast of the bridge.

[irishmdk51]

Thank you everyone for the quick responses,

KG, those map references are great. I did not realize that Brookhill was a townland. I thought it was just an estate. To the left of Brookhill on the map, it looks like there is a townland spelt KILMACANELLY which is very close to McEnelly.

What does it mean that a townland is named after my ancestors ? 

Thanks again,
Mike
 

[irishmdk51]

Scraboman,

i just reread your note about having Thomas and Michael Connolly as ancestors. I think this is what my ancestor Thomas McEnelly wrote about when he said McEnelly was recorded as Connolly.

Thomas was a kid that dropped out of school in 8th grade, worked as a bellhop, ended up in America's Foreign Service, and was a Consul in Dublin during WWII. He wrote an autobiography. I would say I am probably related to your wife's Connollys based upon his research. The attached is from his autobiography.

After dinner, I inspected the register of the parish to ascertain information on the birth of my
father. I found that he was born in the  month of May 1840 and baptized in the
name of Patrick Henry Cunnella; his sister Johanna in the name of Kennella,
and his brothers Tom, Mike and Jim, Connelly. I asked father Brett how I
happened to have the name of McEnelly when my father was baptized with the name Cunnella.
He told me it often happened that
Irish names were corrupted by the neighbors of a family who shortened them for easy
pronunciation, and advised me to pursue my inquiry by examining earlier records.
This I did, and in the eighteenth century I found the named spelled as I spell it today.

The book is "The Life of Thomas McEnelly - His Life in His Words". I got it off Amazon but I also have an early draft online if you would like me to send it to you.

Mike